Moving to Orlando--need opinions

[Jotash]

I had to add to what you all are saying. I too live in Pembroke Pines, but further east, Douglas and Taft. We bought our house a little over two years ago for $205,000 and at the time felt ripped off. The houses in our area now are going for $400,000 or more. It's unbelievable. The thing that's killing us is the taxes that went up in our area last year (nearly doubled) and the insurance costs skyrocketing. I told my husband our next move is going to be north, but for now here we stay since he has a very stable job in a very poor economy.

 

[fsufandis]

Thanks for your reply. We live in one of the highest housing markets in the country right now, which means we could have an amazing house in Central Fla. for what we pay here, so that is one of the items in our "yes!" column.

In the negative column, we have "unbearably hot and humid summers" LOL. I think being next door to Mickey is worth putting up with the summers, but we still have lots of other research to do...I've been told that you basically have to put your kids in private school because the public schools all over FL are terrible...

I would not be so quick to assume that you can get a great bargain in Orlando. The Orlando area was the 6th fastest (% price) growing area in the US. I think home prices were up nearly 40% since the first of the year.

My 2600 SF home is over $425K (as of last month rising) and I pay over $4K in property tax.

I live in an area very close to Disney called Dr. Phillips.

 

[3DisneyKids]

It will be the school system that makes the difference for us. Heating oil in Maine is higher than electricity in FL and our house would sell for over $600K here (and we paid $300 for it 5 years ago, so I know what you are saying about the outrageous increases in value).

We are already getting reports from our New England friends who have moved down south and they all agree (so far) that New England is a much better area in which to raise kids...Disney or not *sigh* because of the schools, the (new) crowding issues, traffic, etc.

If we stay here, we'll just *have* to buy into DVC...LOL. One way or another, we're going to visit more often.

 

[Zoesmama03]

We currently live in Arizona where house prices are starting be comparable with California one of the highest and central Fl. is a TON cheaper.

I'm moving near Tampa myself its quite a bit cheaper than our current location.

But I know some areas of the country will be cheaper so yeah check that out but I find that the cost of living in Florida was less than where we currently are. We are moving there in 18 days. YIPPY!!!

And no it doesn't lose the magic much. My nieces have lived there for about a year and all love it just as much.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Oh my coming from Maine. Its beautiful there I'd love to live there but couldn't afford it.

You will miss the cooler summers but it really isn't so bad in Florida you kinda get used to it after awhile. Most of the year is rather nice. When you live there you gotta think unless you are weekending Disney you will be indoors much of the time so its really not as bad as you'd remember from your vacations.

 

[MAH4546]

J
Housing is expensive, as are property taxes. If you want to live in a nice area, more than likely you will not live near a "downtown" area, unless you are looking at condos. So now you have to take into consideration your commute.

In South Florida, at least Miami-Dade county, the nicest residential neighbourhoods (Bay Point, Morningside, Palm Island, Miami Beach, Sunset, Key Biscayne) are all either in downtown or within ten minutes. To get any bargains in Miami-Dade County, you have to live far out of the downtown area, like North Miami.

Florida has a high cost of living, especially compared to Maine, but you can't compare to costs of living in South Florida to Central Florida. Central Florida is a relative bargain compared to South Florida.

Examples of how ridiculous Miami real estate is right now (I'm not complaining, though, the value of my house has increased 550% since I bought it in 1999).

-A 1,700 square foot, 2-bedroom "cottage" in El Portal, just outside of downtown next to a trailer park: $590,000 (just sold)

-A 2,300 square foot, 3-bedroom/3-bath single level home on a dry lot in Bay Point, in downtown's Design Destrict: $1,500,000.

-A 3,700 square foot, 3-bedroom/4-bath single level home with bay views in Bay Point: $4,900,000.

-3 bedroom/2.5 bath 2,000 square feet in Key Biscayne: $1,475,000

-2 bedroom, 1,600 square feet on Alton Road, right near South Beach: $790,000

 

[jezebella]

You DO NOT want to live near OBT---Winter Park, on the other had is very nice. Also look into Windermere or Dr. Phillips area. It's close to downtown via I-4 and very upscale neighborhoods.

 

[issa]

look into seminole county as well..just north of orlando /orange county.

Excellent schools and a growing area - esp Altamonte springs/ Lake Mary. The highschool in my school district just got the top .33% of the nation in time magizine ( top third of 1 %) its an Excellent school....lots of A schools from Elem. on up and still close enough that we drive to Epcot for dinner and fireworks ( about a 20 -25 min drive)

 

[mercydisney]

My family and I moved from NJ to Tampa Bay Area 6 years ago, I love the location we are in, we did our reesearch before we moved. Alot of people on this thread have stated that the school system stinks, I would like to debate that. MY daughter has cousin's the same grade level as she is in NJ and she is way ahead of them in reading and math.. One if the reasons we moved to Fl was not only DISNEY, I wanted to be able to stay home w/my kids and I am able to..I help out in the school system and help them w/their school work. I don't believe the school system is to blame (totally) aas parents we should be more involoved. Don't get me wrong I'm not commandoi when it comes to getting A's, I'm just involved in my kids education.I believe my whole community is we currently ranked #1 IN FCAT IN OUR COUNTY.

When my husband was offered the promotion in Tampa we were lucky because his co. hired a realter to help us decide where we would live. I think what many people do wrong is they come to FL because housing is cheap, so they buy the biggest house they can have even if they don't need half the space. We could of done that be we chose to get a 4 bedroom 3 bath house w/family rm, formal living rm, and dining rm w/pool. I love my house I just want a playroom so my family rm is not a mess all the time. I also babysit parttime because I have to feed my Disney addiction. I do have friends that have beautiful homes mansions some might be considered in NJ. But again we only have a couple of yrs to pay off our house they don't.

OK I'm babbling. What I'm trying to say living in Fl is like living anywhere else, HOme is where the heart is. We use to Anual Passes, we now get seasonal passes.

Zoesmama's where in the Tampa area are you moving to?

 

[mercydisney]

I just reread my post. sorry for the bad grammer and punctuation marks. I went to school in NJ.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Want to say my dad got a nearly 3,000 sqft home for $250,000 so central is A LOT cheaper.

 

[tlbwriter]

How is the quality? Our friends who moved there were surprised that you got pretty low quality for the money (i.e., hollow doors, formica counters in the bathroom, no drawers in the bathroom, etc. on a brand new house in a gated community.)

 

[Feralpeg]

How is the quality? Our friends who moved there were surprised that you got pretty low quality for the money (i.e., hollow doors, formica counters in the bathroom, no drawers in the bathroom, etc. on a brand new house in a gated community.)

I guess it depends on the builder. I think my home has very good quality items in it. I was able to select most of the interior items. I have solid wood doors, marble counters in the bathrooms, tons of drawers in both the bathrooms and the kitchen. My neighborhood isn't even gated.

 

[3DisneyKids]

Thanks so much for this...I think we will likely be looing in that area...maybe not "right" next door, but as you said, close enough to hop over for dinner and fireworks!